South Dakota child support calculator

South Dakota follows the income-shares idea but with a distinctive twist: it works from monthly net income rather than gross, so the deductions in SDCL 25-7-6.7 — taxes, FICA, health insurance for the parent, certain retirement contributions — come off before the schedule is consulted. The combined net incomes are applied to the schedule, the obligation is divided proportionately, and the noncustodial parent’s share becomes the order. The custodial parent is presumed to spend their share directly on the child.

Unusually, South Dakota’s schedule is not an appendix or an agency form — it is printed in the body of SDCL 25-7-6.2 itself, so the table is the statute. It runs from a first bracket of $0–$950 up to $30,000 of combined monthly net income in $50 brackets, for one to six children, and was last amended by SL 2022 ch 80. Above $30,000 the schedule stops and SDCL 25-7-6.9 leaves the amount to the court.

Child care (SDCL 25-7-6.18) and the children’s health-insurance cost (§ 25-7-6.16) are apportioned between the parents in proportion to income, alongside the basic obligation rather than folded into it. The schedule also carries a self-support reserve of $871 a month, marked by emboldened cells. The rule is a comparison: work out the obligation using the payor’s net income alone, and if that figure sits in the emboldened area, set it against the payor’s proportionate share and take the lesser. The emboldened area reaches $1,050 of the payor’s net income for one child, $1,350 for two, $1,550 for three, $1,700 for four, $1,850 for five and $2,000 for six.

Where a court-ordered shared parenting plan gives the child at least 180 nights a year in each home and the parents share the child’s expenses in proportion to income, the court may grant a cross-credit against the obligation — though not where it would substantially harm the child’s standard of living. South Dakota also abates part of the support during extended time with the paying parent. Because both turn on the parenting plan, this calculator computes the standard obligation.

It combines both parents’ net income, reads the SDCL 25-7-6.2 schedule, applies the self-support-reserve comparison, and apportions child care and health insurance by income share. It does not compute net income from your pay stubs, run the shared-parenting cross-credit, offset obligations where each parent has custody of a child, credit social-security dependent benefits, or apply a deviation the court may order. For a figure you can file, use the official worksheet or consult an attorney.